E-Letters

This e-letter is written by my friend Robert King. His spiritual journey has taken him to places that few men I know have gone. Graham Cook once said; "Sometimes God calls you to a new future and some of your friends can't go with you, it's not you, they simply can't or won't go where you are going. Sometimes you have to lose the friendships to gain the future."

I am thankful that Robert had the courage to follow this life because it found me on a distant shore.

Jeff

The End of an Era

By Robert King
Jun 12, 2009

"The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace."

The era of being a 'Sports Dad' ended for me last Monday night when my youngest son's lacrosse team lost in the state playoffs. He's a senior this year, and his last season is over.

Most teams end their seasons in defeat, and Ben's last game was a lop-sided rout. The scoreboard sneered 6-0 half way through the first quarter as the opposing team seemed to be scoring at will. We were getting trounced.

I stood down in front of the stands, at the chain link fence a few yards behind our team on the sidelines, looking for a number.

My son's jersey. Number 32. It was the number I'd strained to see at every game, all season long.

The crowd erupted in a cheer. The scoreboard changed: 7-0.

But number 32 was the only number that mattered to me.

There he was. My son! Ben happened to glance my way at that moment he saw me. Through his face mask our eyes met; he nodded and gave his gloved hand a subtle shake to say: Hey Dad!

In that moment, only one thing mattered, and it was NOT the scoreboard. It was that my son and I were together.

It was an eternal moment for me, as my heavenly Father began to remind me of his heart for me as his son.

God is always looking for number 32. He's looking for me, watching for me. He is with me in whatever lop-sided rout I happen to be in, and the delight of his heart is the moment of eye-contact and recognition when I know: Daddy, you're here!

The world and religion keep score in lots of ways, and if I'm focusing on the scoreboard, my life can be pretty miserable. But my Father doesn't even acknowledge the brutal facts:

Sins: Righteous Deeds:
48 2
Bad Decisions: Good Decisions:
82 4
Poverty: Wealth:
112 16
Immaturity: Where I should be:
52 5

When Paul wrote to the Romans "The mind set on the flesh is death," he referred to this score - keeping era in which all I thought about was the score on my scoreboard, measuring myself among others and comparing myself with a set of moral standards, principles and people's expectations. With my inner eye on this religious scoreboard, I would either puff myself up in my glory if I thought I was winning or, more often, sink into utter gloom when I lost....I never could recognize God's presence in me, and that's the very definition of death.

But now my Father is saying, "It's the end of that era, Robert! When you give me eye-contact, taking your eyes off of the scoreboard and simply being my son, my affection for you will flood into your life and your mind will be transformed into the mind of Jesus, the One who knows he's loved. Your mind set on the Spirit, my presence in you now, is life and peace."

So, it is the end of an era for me: the end of evaluating my life apart from my Father's affection.

He loves me; I am his beloved son, no matter what the scoreboard says...

Robert King